Hatch, Liljenquist, Herrod debate before convention

SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and his key Republican challengers met in their second and final debate before this weekend’s state convention, with each emphasizing their strengths in a final push for delegate votes.

Like their previous debate several weeks ago, Monday night’s affair between Hatch, state Rep. Chris Herrod and former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist on the campus of Dixie State College in St. George was congenial and didn’t deliver the expected blows aimed at the incumbent senator. Candidates focused on the expansion of federal powers, the growing national debt and energy development.